What is Abuse?
Abuse is when someone hurts you or treats you badly.

Abuse can be:
+ Physical - hitting, pinching, slapping, pushing, arm twisting, punching, kicking, choking, burning, cutting, shooting, etc.
+ Emotional or psychological - making threats to harm you or someone you know, breaking your things, stalking or following you, etc.
+ Sexual - sexual touching or sexual activity when you do not agree to it, etc.
+ Financial - taking your paycheque, withholding money from you so that you have no food or necessary medical treatment, etc.

These are all crimes in Canada. Other forms of abuse are not crimes, but they are still abuse.

This can be:
+ Insulting your appearance habits, or intelligence.
+ Humiliating you.
+ Ignoring you.
+ Screaming at you.
+ Calling you names.
+ Threatening to get you deported.
+ Insulting your family or friends.
+ Isolating you from family and friends.
+ Telling what you can do and where you can go.
+ Telling you who your friends can be.
+ Stopping you from leaving the house.
+ Making you feel afraid by what he says.

You can experience more than one type of abuse. Usually the abuser is a husband, or boyfriend, or ex-husband, or ex-boyfriend. Sometimes the abuser is a member of your family or your husband's family. The abuser could also be a woman, including your same-sex partner, but usually it is a man.

Remember, nothing you do gives anyone the right to abuse you. It is not your fault.